


one taste and i want the whole thing

by glazedsun



Category: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bathtubs, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 16:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21018524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glazedsun/pseuds/glazedsun
Summary: Johnny just wants to enjoy his cupcake in peace, but the appearance of an unexpected visitor stirs up feelings he didn't realize he had.





	one taste and i want the whole thing

**Author's Note:**

> i'm playing fast and loose with canon; they're adults so it's post-ffh but really the only reason it'd be considered mcu canon is because there's a mention of karen and happy. this is my first fic in the fandom, be gentle with me! i wanted to write something fluffy and sweet because i've been grieving in my own life so this was a nice escape. not beta'd, except by me. enjoy!
> 
> song title is from the waitress musical

There’s a content smile on Johnny’s face as he opens the door to his room. He’s humming to himself, unwrapping a leftover cupcake from an impromptu trip to the bakery with Val and Frankie that afternoon. He’s been waiting all day to eat this cupcake. _Red Hot_, it was called: cinnamon, brushed with Fireball whiskey, and the frosting shocks of bright reds and yellows meant to look like flames. Val had stumbled on a picture of one on Instagram, and the second she showed Johnny, he knew he had to have it.

Needless to say, the employee at the bakery was shocked to see him stroll in, and immediately brought the baker out. They took pictures together before Johnny left with a variety of cupcakes, picked for each member of the family. (Johnny had suggested the baker make one with rock candy in the future; Ben was less than impressed when Johnny relayed that suggestion later.)

Johnny closes the door behind him, leaning against it. “Flame on,” he whispers reverently to the cupcake before taking a bite out of it.

“You’re an idiot, Flame-brain,” comes a familiar, but strained, voice.

The cupcake slips from Johnny’s hand in his surprise, but a different hand reaches out with inhumanly fast reflexes to catch it. Johnny blinks a few times, taking the cupcake back and staring at the man in front of him.

“Webs?” He asks. “What are you doing here?” Once he’s over his initial shock, Johnny really notices that Spidey doesn’t seem to be doing too well. He’s hunched over and shaking, clutching his side. His suit is covered in dirt and blood. The fact that Johnny can’t tell whether or not it’s Spider-man’s leaves him trying not to panic.

“Tired,” is all he gets from Peter, where he’d usually get some sarcastic remark.

That worries Johnny even more. He sets his cupcake down on the nearby dresser, wrapping an arm around Peter and helping him to sit on the edge of the bed. “Are you hurt?”

Spider-man shakes his head. “Bruises… no big injuries.” Johnny can sense him rolling his eyes under the mask when he mutters, “Mind your business, Karen.”

At that, Johnny frowns harder. “Karen, status report on Peter’s injuries, please, love.”

“It seems that Peter has suffered extensive bruising, some cuts, two cracked ribs, and a mild concussion,” the suit’s AI says out loud. Johnny has never been more grateful that he managed to charm Ned into helping him hack the suit to give him access to Karen. It didn’t take him long to figure out that Peter had a habit of downplaying his injuries; this was just a precaution for when Spidey teamed up with them.

“Thank you, Karen.”

“You’re welcome, Johnny.”

“Traitor,” Peter mutters.

“Just bruises, huh?” Johnny frowns, arms crossing over his chest and leveling an unimpressed look at his best friend.

“It’ll all heal,” Peter shrugs.

Johnny rolls his eyes. “No sense of self-preservation,” he mutters under his breath, knowing full well that Peter can still hear him and not caring. “Come on, then.” He starts walking towards his bathroom. Though he can’t see him, Johnny can sense Peter’s hesitation before finally giving in to follow him. “Up,” he orders, pointing to the counter.

Peter grumbles, but finally takes off his mask and presses the crest in the middle of his chest to allow the suit to fall away. He sits up on the counter, glaring at Johnny. “I’m _fine_, Torchie.”

Johnny doesn’t say anything yet, just moves to stand in front of Peter after he’s grabbed the first aid kit he’s started keeping for nights like these. He inspects Peter’s bruises and cuts, cleaning a few but being satisfied that none of them are deep enough to need stitches. “You’re shivering,” he says gently when he observes that Peter is still shaking. He cups Peter’s cheek, letting his hand warm up just enough to give some comfort. When Peter just shrugs, Johnny frowns harder. He’s seen Peter injured way worse than this, but he’s never been quite this… distant. It worries him, and he’s not quite sure how to handle Spidey like this. He’s used to the banter, the stubbornness, the jokes. This is so much different.

He looks around the bathroom for inspiration, then smiles when an idea hits him. “Stay here,” he says. Peter nods, running a hand through his hair and closing his eyes, as if the lights were too much for him. Sensory overload, too, then, is Johnny’s best guess. Johnny walks over to the huge bathtub, starting the water. Once the tub begins filling, he looks through his various bath salts, oils, and bombs to find the right one. He settles for a calming lavender and chamomile combination.

When he’s satisfied with adding the right amount, he lights a few candles, just enough that they’ll be able to see in the dark. He then stands up and goes to turn off the lights, so that the only light comes from the flicker of the flames. “Come on, Pete, you can open your eyes.”

Peter’s eyes slowly blink open, and Johnny can see the way that some of the tension drains from Peter when he realizes it’s not as bright.

“Let’s get you in the water.” Johnny offers his hand to help Peter jump down and leads him over to the tub.

“You ran me a bath?” Peter asks in surprise.

Johnny shrugs. “You’re cold and seem tense… seemed like a good idea. Was I wrong?”

“No, Johnny, this is…” Peter frowns, looking over at the tub then back at Johnny, “the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.”

Johnny’s grateful for the darkness when he feels sudden heat on his face, and he knows that he’s blushing. “Anything for you,” he murmurs, turning away hastily to turn off the water. He feels the water, heating it up just a tiny bit before deciding he’s satisfied with the temperature. “You’re all set. Get settled in… I’ll leave you alone, so you can have some quiet and privacy.”

“Don’t go,” Peter’s voice is barely audible; if Johnny wasn’t so attuned to him, he probably wouldn’t even have heard it.

Johnny swallows at that, trying not to react. “Okay. I’m just… gonna let you get in and settled and go get you some water, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Peter nods, so Johnny moves out of the bathroom, hearing Peter slip into the water. Johnny takes a deep breath, making his way down to the kitchen to grab the promised water for Peter. He lingers a little, trying to sort out his thoughts and his feelings.

He knows he’s worried about Peter because Spider-man has been a part of this family for a long time, even before any of them knew his identity. But this feels… more. It felt like his heart was going to stop when he saw Peter looking like as rough as he did.

He’d take care of anyone in the same way… right?

He closes his eyes, knowing the answer to that without even having to think it. Ben’s been teasing Johnny for months now about being in love with Peter, but Johnny had always rolled his eyes and denied it. But maybe… maybe there was something there.

He shakes his head. This is not the time. This time is for looking after Peter.

When he gets back to his room, Johnny grabs the abandoned cupcake and carefully cuts it in half. He smiles a little, knocking on the bathroom door before opening it. He smiles when he sees Peter looking more relaxed and not nearly as on edge as he’d been when he’d been sitting on the counter.

“Hey,” Johnny murmurs softly, walking over to sit on the edge of the tub.

Peter opens his eyes, smiling up at Johnny. “Hey.”

“How’s the water?”

“Feels nice,” Peter says. “Can feel my healing kicking in finally.”

“Good,” Johnny says, relaxing himself now that Peter seems to be doing better. He hands the water bottle to Peter, making sure that he drinks from it before taking him back. “Brought you half my cupcake.”

“Is that the Red Hot?”

“You know it,” Johnny grins. “Have you had it?”

“It’s my favorite,” Peter says, his voice soft and face a bit red.

Johnny blinks, a little surprised by that, though he’s not sure why. “Is it your favorite because the flaming frosting reminds you of me?”

Peter just shrugs, his face even more pink.

Oh. Okay. Wow. Okay.

“Well,” Johnny says after a moment. “If they ever have one that reminds me of you, it’ll be my favorite.”

“Really?” Peter asks, looking up at Johnny with wide eyes.

Johnny smiles, gentle, as he shrugs. “Duh. I drew you a bath, Peter,” he says, as if somehow that explains everything.

And if the look on Spider-man’s face is anything to go by, well. It seems like it does explain it all.

Johnny hands Peter the cupcake carefully once he sets his water down. He stays silent for a moment, brushing some of Peter’s hair out of his face. It was getting curly again, which Johnny was quite fond of.

“Mmm,” Peter murmurs after taking a bite of the cupcake, smiling to himself and leaning into Johnny’s touch.

“How’s the water?” Johnny asks, trying to avoid saying something he might regret.

“Could be warmer.” Johnny goes to reach his hand in and warm it up, but Peter grabs his hand and looks him in the eye. “Not quite what I meant.”

Johnny blinks, owlish, not comprehending Peter’s words at first. His eyes widen when he understands what Peter is saying. “You sure?” he asks, hesitant and nervous.

Peter nods. “Please, Johnny? Just… want to be close to you right now.”

Johnny takes a deep breath, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. What was _wrong_ with him? Usually he could be so confident, but right now he’s so nervous he might spontaneously combust. (Which, unfortunately for the building, was a thing that could legit happen to him). “Okay,” he finally says, voice soft. He stands up, pulling his shirt off, and then hesitating.

“Don’t overthink it, Johnny,” Peter sighs before finishing his half of the cupcake in another bite.

Johnny laughs, the sound a bit more higher-pitched and nervous than normal, but he nods, unable to help laughing when Peter glares up at him. He quickly strips down the rest of the way. Peter scoots forward enough to allow Johnny to step in the water behind him.

It takes a moment for them to get situated, Johnny having to be careful not to slip in the dim light of the room. He instinctually wraps his arms around Peter when the man leans back, smiling to himself.

“Much better,” Peter sighs happily, nuzzling back into Johnny to soak up his warmth, a content smile on his face that has Johnny’s heart skipping a beat.

Johnny leans forward, pressing a kiss to the top of Peter’s head. “What made you come here?” he asks softly after a few quiet moments settle between them. “You could have just… gone home.”

Peter sighs, fidgeting a little bit. “I knew Karen would alert Happy about my injuries if I just went home. When I’m here, he doesn’t have to check up on me.” Johnny chews his lip, trying not to feel deflated at that, at knowing that Peter was only here to avoid Happy Hogan in mother-hen mode.

“Sounds reasonable,” he says softly, glad that Peter is facing forward and can’t see the disappointment on his face.

Apparently, he can hear it, though, because Peter shakes his head. “You have no idea why he doesn’t bother checking in on me when I’m here, do you?”

Johnny frowns, shaking his head. “Why would I?”

Peter reaches up, taking one of Johnny’s hands so he can play with his fingers. “He knows that when I’m here, you look after me. He knows that there’s… there’s no one else that I would trust seeing me like that more than you.”

“Oh,” Johnny says softly, staring at Peter in shock. He’d never really even spoken to Happy; this means that… Peter has told Happy about Johnny. “I always want to make it better for you, take care of you.”

“I know,” Peter says. “You always have. Even when you didn’t get along with me out of the suit, you’ve always had Spider-man’s back, almost since day one.”

“You’ve been my best friend for a long time,” Johnny says, feeling vulnerable and open in this moment, between the initial fear he’d felt, the realization of his feelings, and just the closeness of the bath. “It’s all been… such a big adjustment, not only suddenly having these powers, but being in the spotlight. But you’ve been here for me, when I’ve felt like I had no one else except for my family. And I love my family, but… they’re a lot, you know?” Peter snorts, bringing Johnny’s hand to his mouth so he could press a gentle kiss to it. “You’ve had my back, too. And having you to talk to, in our place where we can both get away from our lives, it’s what I’ve needed.”

Peter turns around to press a gentle kiss to Johnny’s face that has him blushing. “You’ve helped me through more than you even know,” he murmurs, his voice barely audible. “God, Johnny, I just…” he trails off, kissing each of Johnny’s fingers.

“I love you, too,” Johnny says. He reaches up with the hand that Peter wasn’t holding, turning Peter’s face gently toward him. They stare into each other’s eyes for a split second before leaning in, sharing a slow, soft, emotionally charged, kiss. “This isn’t the concussion speaking, right?” he asks after he pulls away, just… because.

To his delight, Peter bursts out into loud laugher, shaking his head. “Such an idiot,” he repeats, ignoring the way that Johnny pouts at him and leaning in to kiss him again before settling back, both of them letting out content sighs.

**Author's Note:**

> rebloggable post is [here](https://glazed-sun.tumblr.com/post/188325738984/one-taste-and-i-want-the-whole-thing-peter) if you feel like sharing!


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